Activity 1
Beautiful Differences
Think your students are too young to discuss differing abilities? Think again.
Alex Fidler, age eight, remembers a lot of things about Joel Blecha’s first-grade
class at Chicago’s Francis W. Parker School—but mostly she remembers
becoming friends with a man with dwarfism.
class at Chicago’s Francis W. Parker School—but mostly she remembers
becoming friends with a man with dwarfism.
Her year in Blecha’s class included rides on mass transit, field trips to the
zoo and a visit to a job site where Mr. Blecha got squirted by water from a
broken pipe. But Alex most vividly recalls a visit to the nonprofit Access
Living, where she met some friendly people who happened to have disabilities.
zoo and a visit to a job site where Mr. Blecha got squirted by water from a
broken pipe. But Alex most vividly recalls a visit to the nonprofit Access
Living, where she met some friendly people who happened to have disabilities.
“One of them had dwarfism. One of them needed to have, like, bigger font
so they could see better. One of them had cerebral palsy,” says Alex, now in
second grade. “But they weren’t different. They just needed some things so
they could get around better.”
so they could see better. One of them had cerebral palsy,” says Alex, now in
second grade. “But they weren’t different. They just needed some things so
they could get around better.”
This kind of statement makes Blecha happy. An enthusiastic and self-described
“outside-the-walls” teacher, Blecha has built a social studies curriculum for
first-graders that centers on accessibility for people with disabilities—what
Blecha calls “beautiful differences.”
“outside-the-walls” teacher, Blecha has built a social studies curriculum for
first-graders that centers on accessibility for people with disabilities—what
Blecha calls “beautiful differences.”
It’s a good fit at Parker School, an independent pre-K to 12 private school
serving Chicago’s Lincoln Park neighborhood. The school represents core
values of community and diversity; its ethos opens with the sentence, “We
are deliberately composed of a diverse group of people so that we can learn how
to honor the dignity and experience of every human being.”
serving Chicago’s Lincoln Park neighborhood. The school represents core
values of community and diversity; its ethos opens with the sentence, “We
are deliberately composed of a diverse group of people so that we can learn how
to honor the dignity and experience of every human being.”
But when the topics of diversity and civil rights come up, many people first think
about race, gender or sexual orientation; people with disabilities can be overlooked.
about race, gender or sexual orientation; people with disabilities can be overlooked.
“One of the unexpected joys of this accessibility curriculum is the number of
parents saying, ‘I never knew this stuff!’” Blecha says. “‘I’m learning this stuff right
along with my kid.’”
parents saying, ‘I never knew this stuff!’” Blecha says. “‘I’m learning this stuff right
along with my kid.’”
By: Joe Hansen; Summer 2014
https://www.tolerance.org/magazine/summer-2014/beautiful-differences
Activity 2
Identifying the text: complete the information
A- Title:
B- 1: The text above is:
a. Informative.
b. Narrative.
c. Fictional.
2: Characteristics identified:
3: Source:
C - 1: Which school does Alex Fidler attend?
2: What is the teacher's name?
D - True or False. Justify the false answers:
a) Joel Blecha is known for being a discouraged teacher.
b) Alex Fidler remembers becoming friends with a man with dwarfism.
c) Parker is a public school.
d) The school represents core values of community and diversity.
E- Perform the following crossword puzzle:
E- Perform the following crossword puzzle:
F- Make a brief summary in Spanish on the subject of the text.
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